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by Sam Tepperman-Gelfant andDavid Zisser

The City of Oakland is currentlyconsidering five proposals fordevelopment on a prime piece ofpublicly owned land on the

shore of Lake Merritt, just blocks fromdowntown and key transit hubs. Most, ifnot all, of the proposals include affordablehousing, and one is a visionary, communi-ty-developed plan for 98 affordable unitsand plenty of green space.

If this sounds good to you, be sure tothank the neighbors.

In January, this outcome was unimagin-able to all but a dedicated group of neigh-bors who make up Eastlake United forJustice (EUJ). At the time, the City wasbarreling forward with plans to sell the East12th Street parcel at a discount for thedevelopment of a monstrous tower of luxu-ry apartments for households making$120,000 and up — more than three timesthe median income for the neighborhood.

While the outcome seemed inevitableto some, Eastlake United for Justice had adifferent vision for the site and one over-arching demand: use public land for the

public good. Through fearless and relent-less organizing using a range of strategies,including legal enforcement in partnershipwith Public Advocates and others, EUJstopped the moving train of luxury devel-opment and steered the process towards amore equitable outcome.

Necessity, and a deep love forOakland, brought EUJ together. “So manypeople came together because we allknow the real material consequences ofgentrification and displacement on low-income communities of color inOakland,” said Tia Hicks, who was born

and raised in Eastlake. “Alarming rises in rent and home sales

in this city are pushing long-term, work-ing-class residents out to more suburbanareas that do not have adequate resources

by TJ Johnston

No new jails will be built — that’s

the clear message that activists

sent to lawmakers in two Bay

Area cities, and one that was heeded.In a unanimous vote on December 15,

the San Francisco Board of Supervisorsturned down $80 million in state funds topay for a jail with 384 extra beds. Thatrelieved them of the responsibility forspending $240 million on the project overa 20-year period. The Board ofSupervisors also agreed in principle toexplore ways of enhancing mental healthand drug treatment programs not tied tothe criminal justice system.

The vote by the supervisors happenedless than two weeks after activists fromthe No New SF Jail coalition staged a dra-matic protest during a budget committeehearing in the board chamber, temporarilyshutting down the meeting.

Similarly, the Richmond City Councilin Contra Costa County passed a resolu-tion last July not to allow construction ofa new jail with 480 new beds in its neckof the woods. The City of Richmond alsochallenged the environmental impactreport that supported the jail expansion.As a result, the California Board of Stateand County Corrections turned down theCounty’s application for the jail.

Community-based organizations

opposed to the jails hailed these rejectionsas victories of enhanced social servicesover the prison-industrial complex. TheNo New SF Jail coalition organized thedrive. Among its members were CriticalResistance, Californians United for aResponsible Budget (CURB) and theCoalition on Homelessness.

In the East Bay, an alliance of labor,immigrant and faith-based groups fought

against an expansion of the West CountyDetention Facility in Richmond. The EastBay group included Contra CostaInterfaith Supporting CommunityOrganization, Faith Alliance for a MoralEconomy and the National Nurses Union.

Anti-jail advocates on both sides of theSan Francisco Bay say money can now be

Public Land for the Public Good

Activists Stop Constructionof Massive New Jails in SanFrancisco and Richmond“The contrast was dramatic. Funding could be found for a jail,but not for a hospital. I think that aggravated and motivated avery passionate outcry from people in Contra Costa County.”

— Kristi Laughlin, director of Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy

Sherrifs put up barricades at San Francisco’s Hall of Justice.

Community members created a people’s design for #SaveE12th and unveiled it at the future site. Photo by Rose Mari Taruc

How the community cametogether to halt a luxurytower for the rich and winaffordable housing for thepeople of Oakland.

See Public Land for Public Good page 7

Stever Rhodes photo

See Activists Halt Jails on Both Sides page 6

January 2016ST R E E T SP I R I T2

A Column on Human Rights

by Carol Denney

Maybe it was a Christmas miracle.In the waning days of 2015, somefunding was found in Berkeley to

support an expansion of hours at two day-time drop-in centers, additional shelter bedsthrough the holiday freeze, and a shuttleconnecting the youth shelter to Youth SpiritArtworks, among other services forBerkeley’s poor and homeless population.

Public money that presumably has beenstanding around at the water cooler shoot-ing the breeze was finally put to work. InBerkeley, the question is never, “doesBerkeley have the money?” Berkeley rankstenth for income inequality among U.S.cities, according to Bloomberg, the organi-zation which computes income disparityfigures for cities nationwide with more than100,000 people.

Even adjusting for a sizeable studentpopulation doesn’t change the basic por-trait of Berkeley as a playground for the1%, slowly eroding what was once animpressively diverse and thriving small-town economy.

Only a few decades ago, easy jobs andcheap housing were everywhere inBerkeley. Anyone could meet basic needson the minimum wage, which was $1.65.And while the University of California hadjust stopped being completely free, thanksto then-governor Ronald Reagan, the regis-tration fee was still around fifty bucks.

There were boarding houses withshared kitchens, collective houses whichalways harbored a traveler or two on thecouches in the living room, and tons ofvacancies — so many that after UCBerkeley bulldozed the housing on theblock that is now People’s Park in 1967,the UC regents wouldn’t vote them a dimeto rebuild anything, leaving a rusty rebar-filled nuisance the community decided tocollectively address.

This year, the same spirit came to thelawn of Old City Hall just before the holi-

days, in front of the building where theBerkeley City Council officially meets forcity business, when an impressive net-work of people decided that waiting forthe city to respond to a housing crisis anda homeless emergency was an exercise ineternity and decided to hold a sleep-in.

There had been some confusion overwhere to hold the sleep-in. A sleep-in ear-lier in the summer had been held at thedowntown BART Plaza on Shattuck,while others suggested it should be at thesteps of “new” City Hall on Milvia wherethe Berkeley City Councilmembers andthe Mayor have their offices.

But Old City Hall on Martin LutherKing still has some soft lawn despite thedrought, and a sleep-in there would creategreater public visibility for people headedinto the council chambers to either sup-port or object to new anti-homeless laws.

The vigil began on Monday, November16, and continued overnight and through-out the next day, leading into an eveningrally held just before the heated councildebate on anti-homeless laws took placeon Tuesday, November 17.

That was all that had been planned bythe activists, but thanks largely to the ini-tiative of homeless people, the sleep-indidn’t end the next morning. It grew intoseveral weeks of relative safety for peopleotherwise being shoveled out of parks liketrash or hustled off public streets by themerchant groups’ hired patrols.

The group of homeless people har-bored at Old City Hall developed a func-tional government and leadership, com-municative tools, and crafted “no drugs oralcohol” rules. They were better versed ontheir rights than the average bear.

When city officials finally came in andforced them out, the Liberty City protest-ers had made their point: as a group theywere capable of taking care of themselvesand each other. Liberty City was orderly,organized, and had so much communitysupport there was often extra food, cloth-ing and cold weather gear. Liberty City

did what the City of Berkeley had refusedfor decades to do by simply creating asafe place where people can organizetogether for their own collective needs.

City Councilmember Linda Maio saysshe sees no contradiction in her role incrafting new anti-homeless “two squarefeet” laws and this midnight effort to“close the gaps” in services for the home-less and poor, and perhaps she is sincere.

Consider it a call to arms, those of youwho are incensed at seeing people hud-dled in doorways in thirty degree weather,especially knowing the high percentage ofpeople in any homeless population whoare people of color, who are veterans, whoare disabled, who are struggling with seri-

ous illnesses, and the growing number ofhomeless families represented even in theinadequate county-based counts.

To all those who stood up to be count-ed in support of people on the streets:thank you for your speeches, your letters,your poetry, your song, your theater, yourgrit, your stamina, your creativity andyour fire. Thank you to the advocates,street warriors, clergy, cooperative citystaff, residents, students, and workers whoare slowly turning the large indifferentship of criminalization around inBerkeley’s waters.

We may not represent all of Berkeleyor the Bay Area, but we are able represen-tatives of its conscience at its best.

Liberty City and theChristmas Miracle

by Nikki Hunt

As an intern for the American FriendsService Committee Healing Justice pro-gram, my work is mostly focused on massincarceration issues. So when I heard thatthe Berkeley City Council had voted toadd more laws that criminalize homeless-ness, my first thought was how this relatesto our prison-industrial complex.

The number of people in prison has beendecreasing recently. After a huge leap in theprison population in the 1990s and 2000s,closely linked to the “war on drugs,” thenumbers are now coming down.

Yet, our society has invested so muchmoney and created so many jobs with theprison-industrial complex that a decreasein prisoners is not necessarily a welcomething. No one wants to lose their job evenif it means our society is heading in ahealthier direction. And no politicianwants to be accused of working to elimi-nate jobs! So, the pressure to keep theprisons full is great.

Criminalizing homelessness could be agreat way to keep the prisons full.Misdemeanors can turn into arrest war-rants, which can turn into arrests. Thiscould be seen a double win — keeping theprisons full while also “solving” thehomelessness issue by giving homelesspeople beds in prison.

It’s similar to Jonathan Swift’s famous“modest proposal” that Ireland’s destitutecould overcome their poverty by sellingtheir children as food to the rich, thereby

reducing the surplus population of poorpeople, and ending childhood hunger.

The new Berkeley rules are not theonly way homelessness and prison arelinked. Sam Levin reported in his article,“Alameda County Seeks Santa Rita JailExpansion,” that our government contin-ues to look for funding for the prison sys-tem. Until March 2015, the Berkeley CityCouncil had been allowing the PublicSafety Realignment budget funds to gomostly to jail programs instead of to com-munity programs to assist re-entry.

In March, they voted to commit 50 per-cent of those funds to programs in thecommunity. Then, in June 2015, theBerkeley City Council voted to allow theSheriff to seek funding for a jail expan-sion. November 2015, they received $54million dollars for a jail expansion — onefocused on mental health.

I ask, why do we need an expanded jail

facility in a system that is experiencing adecrease in numbers? Why would we notbe working to get funding for communityprograms instead?

When I heard about the new Berkeleyrules, I thought about how many homelesspeople have mental health issues. A newmental health jail facility would be the per-fect place to take in homeless people withmental health issues, people who have hadtheir unpaid fines turn into arrest warrants.

We will have more of whatever wespend our money on. If we spend moneyon prisons, there will be great pressure tofill them with prisoners. We can choosedifferently. We can insist that our legisla-tors choose differently.

If we refuse to choose more humaneoptions, welcome to the new affordablehousing of the future: prisons and jailcells for those caught on the street withouthomes.

Homeless people set up tents at Old City Hall and showed Berkeley offi-cials that they were able to take care of themselves and each other.

Lydia Gansphoto

Signs at the occupation at Old City Hall: “No Alcohol. No Drugs.” Lydia Gans photo

Jails May Become the New Housing for the Homeless No politician wants to beaccused of working to elimi-nate jobs! So, the pressure tokeep the prisons full is great.

Thanks to the initiative of homeless people, the sleep-ingrew into several weeks of relative safety for people oth-erwise being shoveled out of parks like trash or hustledoff public streets by the merchant groups’ hired patrols.

January 2016 ST R E E T SP I R I T 3

by Genevieve Wilson

Ihad wanted to camp at least once atLiberty City once I learned how ithad formed, partly because I wantedto see what was really up, and partly

because I wanted to meet the participantsI had heard so much about, and partlybecause I had been homeless for twoyears in Berkeley, myself, and the thingsbound up in protest reminded me sostrongly of my own sentiments while Iwas without housing in this city.

So I borrowed a sleeping bag and matfrom a friend, and I headed over to checkthings out at the occupation at Old CityHall after letting a few people know I wascoming.

When I got there, I was warmly wel-comed. A couple people toured me aroundthe demonstration and explained itsboundaries: there was a set of peopledirectly affiliated with the protest, andthen there were others who were not, for avariety of reasons. A speed dealer and hisjunkies had been moved on. Word hadbeen put out about that. It was made clearthat the protest itself was to remain cleanand within legal bounds.

There was a table with food where thecommunity’s meals were served, and vari-ous members routinely made sweeps fortrash. Decisions were being made by con-sensus through a general assembly LibertyCity had itself set up.

Not long after I arrived, one of the pro-testers who had oriented me offered me atarp for the ground, and then after somethought, my own tent for the night. Hesaid he’d feel better about my safety in atent. I told him I appreciated the offer, butthen after some conversation and thought,I decided that since I used to sleep in abivouac when camping, I felt content onthe ground.

After that, someone put on a documen-tary film and it began to get colder, so Idecided to go to bed. Others were turningin as well. I think it might have been 8 or9 pm. I had left my cell phone at home.

I went to bed and someone else joinedme on the lawn. It took me a while to getwarm and fall asleep, but I did. Apartfrom the faint sound of the film in thebackground and my neighbors’ conversa-tions, it was quiet. No louder than youmight hear at a campsite from neighbor-ing campers. Certainly no louder than anynighttime gatherings at Cal.

It got very quiet until I woke up around2 a.m. to two people arguing. Not terriblyloudly, but clearly conflicting over theway one person was treating his dog. Awoman was telling a man to stop mistreat-ing his pet. The man was objecting, insist-ing he could treat the dog as he liked.After a few minutes, others had woken upas well and also became frustrated. Theyall told the pet’s owner to knock it off. Hedid, and we all went back to sleep. Ithought that was pretty run-of-the-millcommunity accountability.

After that, I didn’t wake up again untildawn. I stayed in bed until a few otherswere up as well, and then headed down toTrader Joe’s and back to use theirrestroom. I had a conversation on the wayout with a clerk, who was curious aboutthe protest. She said, “As long as theykeep things organized and legal, what

they’re saying makes perfect sense to me.They’re welcome to the restroom as far asI’m concerned.”

By the time I got back with some gin-gerbread cookies, several things hadchanged. There had been a morning trashsweep, people were discussing what to doabout breakfast, and the bike chop shopthat had been on the opposite side of thelawn had been 95 percent cleaned up —all by about 8:15 a.m. I thought, “That’smore productive than a lot of folks I knowfirst thing in the morning.”

For the duration of time I was there, Inever once witnessed any illegal drug use.To my knowledge, no addicts stumbledthrough in the middle of the night. I gavesome thanks, made a few farewells, andheard a few last stories before promisingI’d visit again.

But I didn’t make it back beforeLiberty City was raided. I spent the day ofthe raid in tears, reckoning with our com-munity’s intolerance. I pray that this canchange. I believe there is hope. How canthere not be?

There was a stabbing just prior to theraid which I’m sure raised valid concernsabout safety. But to be clear here, I wouldlike to make the point that the perpetratorwas an outsider and not part of thedemonstration.

Liberty City was a demonstration withtwo clear requests:

1. Participants asked that a set ofproposed city ordinances effectivelytargeting the homeless be strickenentirely. The reasons for this request werethat, in addition to their punitive nature, itbecame clear that in all likelihood theirpassage would adversely affect Berkeley’sfuture affordable housing applicationswith HUD. Applying with HUD will bemore competitive than ever this year: fivemillion dollars in affordable housingmonies as well as 130 Shelter Plus Carevouchers for Alameda County may bejeopardized now that the Berkeley CityCouncil has voted to adopt this set ofordinances. The City Council was askedat the meetings on November 17 andagain on December 1 to consider waitingto make any decision until HUD could becontacted about these concerns, but thecouncil refused.

2. Liberty City also asked the City ofBerkeley to discuss establishing a per-manent tent village, as some other citieshave successfully done. They would likethis to be done with their help in planning,and it is a request that has been maderepeatedly over many years. But as withthe first request, it remains unaddressedby the City.

And so the protesters that formed

Liberty City continue to find ways tomake their voices heard. I think they planto hold out hope. Discussing alternativehousing solutions is also part of theHomeless Task Force’s Tier 2Recommendations to City Council.

I feel grateful for their perseverance,even with health issues and amidst an ElNiño year. Because I fear we’ve fallenprey to the kind of undiscerning intoler-ance that robs communities of their diver-sity. I’ve seen them steel themselvesagainst that right up until this past weekwith such heavy rain.

I hope that sooner, rather than later, wewill find the courage to listen to what theyhave been saying to us. I believe that theyand those who continue to support themhave the greatest good in mind.

Genevieve Wilson chairs the steering com-mittee for Berkeley’s Homeless Task Forceand works at the Acme Bread Company inWest Berkeley.

Street SpiritStreet Spirit is published by AmericanFriends Service Committee. The ven-dor program is run by J.C. Orton.

Editor, Layout: Terry MessmanWeb Content: Jesse ClarkeHuman Rights: Carol Denney

Contributors: Claire J. Baker, JackBragen, Carol Denney, Lydia Gans,Christine Hanlon, Nikki Hunt, T.J.Johnston, Peter Marin, Dan McMullan,Steve Pleich, Stever Rhodes, DyanRuiz, Joseph Smooke, Rose Mari Taruc,Sam Tepperman-Gelfant, GenevieveWilson, George Wynn, David Zisser

All works copyrighted by the authors.The views expressed in Street Spirit arti-cles are those of the individual authors,not necessarily those of the AFSC.

Street Spirit welcomes submissions ofarticles, artwork, poems and photos. Contact: Terry MessmanStreet Spirit, 65 Ninth Street,San Francisco, CA 94103E-mail: spirit@afsc.orgWeb: http://www.thestreetspirit.org

Compiled by Daniel McMullan

I’ve had enough of reading things byneurotic psychotic pigheaded politicians.All I want is the truth, just gimme sometruth. — John Lennon

How far that little candle throws hisbeams! So shines a good deed in aweary world. — William Shakespeare,The Merchant of Venice

Promise me you’ll always remember:You’re braver than you believe, andstronger than you seem, and smarterthan you think. — A.A. Milne,(Christopher Robin to Pooh)

He said also to the one who had invitedhim, "When you give a luncheon or adinner, do not invite your friends oryour brothers or your relatives or richneighbors, in case they may invite youin return, and you would be repaid. Butwhen you give a banquet, invite thepoor, the crippled, the lame, and theblind. And you will be blessed, becausethey cannot repay you, for you will berepaid at the resurrection of the right-eous." — Luke 14:12-14

You were ordered to obey to Allah, andyou were created to perform gooddeeds. — Hazrat Ali Ibn Abu-Talib A.S

And once the storm is over, you won’tremember how you made it through,how you managed to survive. Youwon’t even be sure whether the storm isreally over. But one thing is certain.When you come out of the storm, youwon’t be the same person who walkedin. That’s what this storm’s all about.”— Haruki Murakami

One Night at Liberty City—Just Before the RaidGimme Some Truth

BEATITUDEby Claire J. Baker

Believing that lovesilently expressedwill be heardand silently answered,we need not celebrateby trumpet blast,tambourines, a dancearound the block,need not kneel to prayin the garden of moonlight.

Lovein its own quiet wayfeels like enough.

Season's Greetings,Peace and Love 2015

Genevieve Wilson (second from left) took part in the first overnight vigil at OldCity Hall on November 16-17, and later spent a night at Liberty City.

I had been homeless fortwo years in Berkeley andthe things bound up in theprotest reminded me sostrongly of my own senti-ments while I was withouthousing in this city.

Street Spirit EditorialAdvisory Committee

Street Spirit is published by AmericanFriends Service Committee. It is guidedby an advisory committee of experiencedand knowledgeable advocates. AFSCexpresses thanks to the members of theStreet Spirit advisory committee:

Janny Castillo, Ellen Danchik, DianaDavis, Carol Denney, Michael Diehl,Lydia Gans, David Hartsough, Sister EvaLumas, Daniel McMullan, The SuitcaseClinic, Pattie Wall, Susan Werner.

Ark of Lonelinessby Peter Marin

Filing in, one by one, as if into an ark of loneliness, out of the rain the shelter, its gray emptiness anchored at the bottom by green cots arranged in rows, boots tucked under, men asleep, rocked on the surface of watery dreams by a great storm never to end.

January 2016ST R E E T SP I R I T4

by Steve Pleich

In Santa Cruz, advocates for peopleexperiencing homelessness — includ-ing the Freedom Sleepers whose con-

tinuing actions at the Santa Cruz City Hallhave been the subject of several reports inStreet Spirit — have been working todirectly address the criminalization ofhomelessness and calling for the repeal ofthe city’s camping/sleeping ban.

Beginning on July 4, 2015, activistshave been consistent in their position thatordinances prohibiting and criminalizinglying, sitting, and sleeping in public areunconstitutional and pose a grave dangerof being selectively enforced against anentire class of people.

In August, this position found unex-pected support from the Obama adminis-tration. A Statement of Interest submittedby the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)in the U. S. District Court case of Janet F.Bell, et. al v. City of Boise, et. al reflecteda dramatic shift in federal policy awayfrom criminalizing homelessness. Thestatement articulated a legal frameworkthat went to the heart of homelessness.

Writing for the DOJ, Civil RightsDivision Attorney Sharon Brett noted,“When adequate shelter space exists, indi-

viduals have a choice about whether ornot to sleep in public. However, whenadequate shelter space does not exist,there is no meaningful distinction betweenthe status of being homeless and the con-duct of sleeping in public. Sleeping is alife-sustaining activity — i.e., it mustoccur at some time in some place. If a per-son literally has nowhere else to go, thenenforcement of the anti-camping ordi-nance against that person criminalizes herfor being homeless.”

The Statement from the Department ofJustice concluded: “Thus, criminalizinghomelessness is both unconstitutional andmisguided public policy, leading to worseoutcomes for people who are homelessand for their communities. If the Courtfinds that it is impossible for homelessindividuals to secure shelter space onsome nights because no beds are avail-able, no shelter meets their disabilityneeds or they have exceeded the maxi-mum stay limitations, then the Courtshould also find that enforcement of theordinances under those circumstancescriminalizes the status of being homelessand violates the Eighth Amendment to theConstitution.”

Regrettably, the Boise case was dis-missed on standing grounds but it contin-

ues to have a profound impact on thecriminalization of homelessness and par-ticularly on the enforcement of campingbans by local municipalities.

Speaking at a December forum onhomeless rights hosted by the FreedomSleepers in Santa Cruz, Tristia Bauman,Staff Attorney for the National LawCenter on Homelessness and Poverty(NLCHP), said, “Criminalization of peo-ple experiencing homelessness has risenmore than 60 percent nationwide and thattrend is almost certain to continue. TheBell statement may be the opportunity tomove challenges to camping bans fromcity hall to local courthouses.”

Activists in Santa Cruz are vigorouslylobbying the NLCHP to commence a Bellv. Boise-based lawsuit in Santa Cruz andthe American Civil Liberties Union ofSanta Cruz County has formally requestedlegal assistance from the NorthernCalifornia affiliate.

Said ACLU Chapter Chair PeterGelblum, “In our view, the situation inSanta Cruz is legally indistinguishablefrom the situation in Boise.”

But the DOJ’s statement in the Bellcase has had one other welcome yet unex-pected impact in Santa Cruz. The policeand park rangers seem increasingly reluc-tant to issue citations for violation of ourlocal camping/sleeping ban.

A survey of pre-Bell citations indicatedthat a very large percentage of the ticketsissued were for violations of Santa CruzMunicipal Code Section 6.36.010, thecamping/sleeping ban. Yet a second sur-vey of 1457 citations issued betweenSeptember 15 and November 3, 2015,

showed that just 75 of those citations werefor violation of 6.36.010.

Indeed, word on the street from ourhomeless allies seems to confirm this situ-ation. Says a longtime homeless commu-nity member, “The SCPD and ParkRangers don’t want to give us tickets forsleeping. This is a big change from just afew months ago.”

Clearly, the powers that be in SantaCruz are trying to proactively head offany prospective Bell v. Boise style litiga-tion challenging the camping/sleepingban. But does this seeming abundance ofcaution come too late?

The dismissal of Bell in federal courtwas based upon the factual finding thatnone of the plaintiffs had been issued tick-ets for violation of the challenged ordi-nance. This is not the case in Santa Cruz.

Although the issuance of camping bantickets has slowed, there is no shortage ofhomeless community members who arestill receiving tickets and whose cases arestill working their way through our localcourt system.

In Santa Cruz, there is little doubt thatpeople experiencing homelessness arebeing criminalized on the basis of statusalone, in violation of their EighthAmendment right to be free from crueland unusual punishment.

Our entire community, unhoused andhoused alike, is living in the Shadow ofBell v. Boise. The hope is that we can allemerge into the sunlight equally free.

Steve Pleich is a member of the FreedomSleepers and an advocate for homeless rightsin Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz County.

In the Shadow of Bell v. BoiseHomeless people in Santa Cruz are being criminalized on thebasis of status alone, in violation of their Eighth Amendmentright to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.

by Joseph Smooke and Dyan Ruiz

Agroup of community workers,along with mostly Latino andAfrican American working-class parents, hold hands in a

prayer vigil at a suburban Bay Areaneighborhood. They huddle together in theshade on the front lawn of a townhousecomplex as their children play with protestsigns and run around with friends.

So close to San Francisco with its rentcontrol and modest eviction preventions,the Silicon Valley city of San Mateo pro-vides no security for tenants. The renters at1824 El Parque Court are not the onlyones threatened with eviction. San Mateohas no Rent Stabilization Board to com-pile reliable statistics. Tenants in severalother buildings — 910 Clinton St. and thePark Royal among them — also got evic-tion notices in previous months.

“We see a lot of buildings beingflipped through speculation and hundredsof families being left without a home,having to leave the area completely, ormove in with another family member,”says Aracely Mondragón, San MateoCounty community organizer for the SanFrancisco Organizing Project/PeninsulaInterfaith Action (SFOP/PIA), whichorganized a vigil to bring attention to theevictions at El Parque Court while esca-lating a campaign about the plight ofBlack and Latino working families in SanMateo and Santa Clara Counties.

With help from SFOP/PIA, renters inseveral cities in San Mateo County havebegun to organize, which is starting tocatch the attention of some local lawmak-ers. San Mateo City CouncilmemberDavid Lim was recently quoted sayingthat he supports just cause eviction pro-

tections, but it will be challenging to getlegislation passed.

San Mateo County touches SanFrancisco’s southern border and is hometo some of the largest and most recogniz-able tech firms in the world. YouTube,Electronic Arts, Facebook, and Oracleanchor this northern part of SiliconValley, which houses three million peo-ple, and stretches south down the lengthof the peninsula to San Jose and back upthe east side of the Bay to Fremont.

Companies on the San FranciscoPeninsula employ more than 300,000 techworkers who earn an average of nearly$200,000 per year. This means that a hugenumber of people, roughly equal to threequarters of the population of Oakland, aremaking a tremendous amount of money inthe Bay Area. Many are young profes-sionals wanting to live in San Francisco,but with the extraordinary demand forhousing and the crowded ranks of highwage earners, the spillover from SanFrancisco to neighboring San Mateo

County is intense.Despite this increasing high-end

demand for housing, income disparitydominates the social and economic land-scape. At the top, high-profile tech firmsare paying elevated wages to secure toptalent. At the bottom, “the average incomefor Hispanics, who make up one in fourresidents in Silicon Valley, fell to an all-time low of $19,000 a year,” according tothe annual Silicon Valley Index.

According to the Wall Street Journal,“Blacks and Latinos make up a sizableshare of low-wage workers cleaning andguarding Silicon Valley tech companies,where the technical workforces are over-whelmingly white and Asian.” Statisticsin the article make the divide even clearer.Latinos make up 69 percent of the janitorsin Santa Clara but only three percent ofGoogle’s workforce.

As the demand for housing from a high-ly compensated workforce continues togrow, landlords are eager to cash in. Whyrent to a janitor when you can rent the same

unit to an engineer whose paycheck is 10times larger? Without renter protections,it’s easy for a landlord to evict a tenant orclear out an entire building or just keep rais-ing the rents. If an existing tenant can pay,they can stay, but the increases inevitablybecome too much.

An internet search reveals several SanMateo County businesses dedicated to help-ing landlords evict tenants, such asProfessional Eviction Services, whose web-site says: “When you need to clear yourhome, apartment, or commercial propertyof its tenants, search no further than ourtenant eviction service company...”

“With the current market and the hous-ing crisis, we’re seeing landlords andinvestors taking advantage of the weaklegal protections, exploiting the holes thatexist in the law in order to turn a quickprofit,” says Daniel Saver, housing attorneyat Community Legal Services of East PaloAlto. “In the wake behind them, there’s a

San Mateo County Renters Fight Rising Evictions

Many low-income families living in the shadow of Silicon Valley’s enormous wealth are being threatened with evictions.

See San Mateo Evictions page 5

“It’s destroying communities.It’s really tearing apart familiesand communities and ties.” — Daniel Saver, Community Legal Services

January 2016 ST R E E T SP I R I T 5

by Jack Bragen

Laura’s Law, the state legislationthat enables the court systemand county employees to forceinvoluntary treatment, including

forced medication, on people with mentalhealth diagnoses, is spreading like canceracross California, county by county.

Since the passage of Proposition 63 (theMental Health Services Act) in 2004,implementation of Laura’s Law has beenapproved in Contra Costa County, the Cityand County of San Francisco, Los AngelesCounty, Nevada County, Orange County,San Diego County, Placer County andYolo County in California.

Those who promote this atrocity havediscovered a way of spreading it bysweetening it with Proposition 63 funds,money originally intended to go towardmental health consumer groups, patients’rights and self-help nonprofits.

Laura’s Law provides for dealing withthose with mental illness via the criminalcourts, in the absence of a mentally ill per-son having committed any offense. Thepresumption is that because you are mental-ly ill, you are about to go out and commitcrimes; and since you are a threat to soci-ety, you must be protected from yourself.

Proponents of Laura’s Law claim thatthey are preventing crime and helpingmentally ill people get treatment theyneed. However, this law provides forcourt-ordered, involuntary treatment incases in which a mentally ill person hasdone nothing wrong, other than possiblynot taking psychiatric medication.

The stated premise is that the mentallyill person, due to the disease, lacks theinsight that they are ill. While thispremise may be accurate some of thetime, Laura’s Law is a bad piece of legis-lation, and it was written in a space ofhate toward mentally ill people.

This law was originally introduced asAssembly Bill 1421, and was passed bythe California Legislature in 2002. It pro-vides for court-ordered, involuntary out-patient mental health treatment, handledby county governments. The law is writ-ten such that county supervisors of thevarious counties must approve the usageof the law’s provisions.

PHARMACEUTICAL FUNDING

It is vastly supported by the NationalAlliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), anationwide advocacy group that receivesthe majority of its funding from pharma-ceutical companies, because desperateparents have been brainwashed intobelieving it is a solution to problems of“noncompliance” of their offspring.

Although many persons with mentalillness need more help than they are get-ting, Laura’s Law is not the solution.Furthermore, some people stand to gain alot of profit from the usage of this law. Itwill sell a lot of medication, and it is acost-cutting tool for cash-strapped coun-ties with supervisors who are not inclinedto adequately fund good mental healthtreatment. This law is also seen as a wayof targeting people who have been consid-ered nuisances but who aren’t necessarilyharming anyone.

Although I am a “compliant” medica-tion-taking mental health consumer, myemotional response to the spread ofLaura’s Law is mostly that of fear. Butalso I feel outraged. I believe that this lawwill prevent persons with mental illness

from making a good, lasting recovery. For those of us who will likely need to

take medications for the rest of our lives,Laura’s Law, because it uses force, dis-rupts an essential learning curve. Whenforce is used, resentment is produced.

We have seen this time and time againthroughout human history — force is bad inthe present and past, and force will continueto be bad in the future. When force is usedon people with chronic mental illness, itdoesn’t give us the chance to sort things outand to learn from our own mistakes.

CRIME AGAINST THE HUMAN SPIRIT

For those who could possibly get pasttheir illness and create a recovery notdependent upon taking meds, the forcedtreatment of Laura’s Law is an appallingcrime against the human spirit.

Many who have read what I have writ-ten may realize that my perspective isdichotomous. I believe that mental illness-es are actual biologically caused condi-tions and should be treated. However, Ialso believe there is a tremendous amountof unnecessary cruelty in the mentalhealth treatment systems. I also believethat it is far better to teach by examplerather than to try to force people to see ityour way. This is why, while I believemental illnesses require treatment, Laura’sLaw is a grave mistake.

Over the years, I have been medicated,and I believe this has helped me.However, I realize that this is not every-one’s ideal path. There are some whowould be better off weathering their men-tal illness rather than having medicationforced on them. Moreover, for them, the“treatment” is far worse than the purport-ed disease.

Laura’s Law is now receivingProposition 63 funds. This is money thatwas originally intended to go toward con-sumer-run patients’ rights and self-helpgroups. Laura’s Law creates fear amongus, even those who are cooperative withtheir treatment. We fear that we could beordered by a judge to participate in whatis termed “assisted outpatient treatment.”The word “assisted” is a nice way of say-ing the “treatment” is forced.

Laura’s Law criminalizes mental ill-ness. It turns having a psychiatric diagno-sis into a crime. When someone isaccused of being mentally ill and “non-compliant,” they can be funneled into thecriminal justice system immediately bymeans of Laura’s Law.

The only recourse of a “subject” is thatof going to the public defender, going to acourt hearing, and trying to prove that youdo not need forced treatment underLaura’s Law. Someone with mental ill-ness is guilty until proven innocent underthis law. According to the text of Laura’sLaw, the burden of proof is on the subject.

Laura’s Law does not provide any provi-sion for making sure the treatment forcedon people is done in a humane manner. Itcalls for “multidisciplinary teams of highlytrained professionals,” but gives no defini-tion of this. Anyone that has a pulse couldbe deemed a “highly trained professional”under Laura’s Law, because nowhere in thelaw is there a criteria for who can be on a“team” and who cannot.

10 PROBLEMS OF LAURA’S LAW

The problems with Laura’s Law include,but are not limited to, the following:

1. Laura’s Law takes money awayfrom the patients’ rights organizations by

ripping off Proposition 63 funds. Theoriginal intention behind Prop 63 waspartly to fund patient-run organizations.

2. It creates fear among persons withpsychiatric disabilities.

3. It uses force to get people medicat-ed; when force enters the equation, resent-ment is produced and this interferes withthe learning curve of the patient gaininginsight into his or her condition.

4. It lacks an adequate system of checksand balances that would assure people arenot treated cruelly or incompetently.

5. It is a way to target those who coun-ty officials believe to be troublemakers.

6. It is a way to sell drugs and tobaccoto maintain the profits of the giant phar-maceutical and tobacco companies.

7. It violates basic human rights.8. It entangles people who have commit-

ted no crime in the criminal justice system. 9. Statistics given probably do not fol-

low people over a period of years or evendecades.

10. Statistics cited by proponents ofLaura’s Law are questionable, and theyare often furnished in the absence of anysort of context.

It feels almost hopeless to continuespeaking out against Laura’s Law, yet Icannot remain silent. One of my goals isto raise awareness about mental illness, aswell as the hardships of living in our soci-ety with a mental health diagnosis. I hopethat people will think more deeply aboutthis subject, so that we at the least can havea more balanced dialogue, a dialogue inwhich the voices of mental health con-sumers have been largely missing.

Laura’s Law Turns a Psychiatric Diagnosis into a Crime

The advertising dollars of giant pharmaceutical corporationspush a barrage of mind-damaging medications on the public.

Graphic from MadnessNetwork News Reader

Laura’s Law criminalizes mental illness. Those labeled“noncompliant” can be subjected to involuntary treat-ment and forced into the criminal justice system eventhough they have committed no offense.

trail of human cost. It’s destroying com-munities. It’s really tearing apart familiesand communities and ties that make SanMateo such a great place to live!”

Residents at the El Parque Court vigiltalked about what this meant to them.One mom with two young children hadlived there for seven years. Her daughterwas still recovering from an ear implant.

“We received the eviction notice onJuly 7, saying that we have to vacate ourapartment in 60 days,” she said, speakingin Spanish. “I am so sad about this. Wehad been fighting so hard for my daugh-ter to get her implant, and the evictionnotice came at roughly the same time asher implant. These were two very diffi-cult things to handle at the same time.”

Another mom told us that it’s hard tofind a new place that takes kids, becauselandlords often restrict households to nomore than four people. And moving atthe end of the summer means not justfinding a new place, but also getting chil-

dren enrolled in a new school.“My kids were born here, so they’re

scared to move to another place,” shetold us. “They think that this is theirhome and they’re worried about chang-ing to another place, changing schools,and missing their friends. That’s why, forme it’s very difficult... and necessary tosupport vigils like this one.”

This certainly won’t be the last vigilfor SFOP/PIA.

“We should start with just a baselineof tenant rights, like rent stabilization,just-cause and relocation benefits,” saysMondragón, who remains steadfastdespite a well-funded lobby anchored bythe Apartment Association working todefend the rights of property owners atthe expense of tenants.

“There is huge opposition but I thinkthat we can continue to lift these evictioncases up and make tenant protectionsmore feasible. And if not, you know,we’ll go to the ballot.”

Dyan Ruiz and Joseph Smooke are co-founders of [people. power. media]. This arti-cle is a co-publishing project of [people.power. media] and Reimagine! RP&E.

San Mateo Evictionsfrom page 4

January 2016ST R E E T SP I R I T6

freed up to bolster programs for mentalhealth, substance abuse treatment, hous-ing and other priorities over incarceration.

KINDER, GENTLER JAILS?The promise of such services in new,

kindler and gentler jails was somethingthe Board of State and CountyCorrections used to entice counties toapply for funding under Senate Bill 863,state legislation that would finance localjails. In November, the state boardapproved $500 million for 15 county jailsystems, including five in the Bay Area.

But opponents say jail constructioncreates collateral damage to their commu-nities, and revamping these facilities issomething they don’t want or need.Jessica Calderon, an advocate at ProjectWHAT who counsels children of inmates— and whose father was incarcerated —said jailing a parent takes an emotionaltoll on families.

“In all my time working to facilitatecontact visits between children and theirincarcerated parents, I have never heard achild ask for a nicer jail for their fathers ormothers to be contained in,” she said.

“What I have heard many times is thesound of children crying when leaving thevisit because they want nothing more thantheir parent to be home with them.”

London Breed, president of the SanFrancisco Board of Supervisors, cited herbrother’s addiction and criminal history asa motivation for her “no” vote at theDecember 15 meeting. As the proposal fora new jail wended through the board foralmost two years, she voiced her doubtsabout the project. Even when she voted toapply for the state grant last July, shevowed to vote against the jail if it was toobig and costly.

“I’d rather go down in history as some-one opposing something that is wrongthan accept money that is going to contin-ue to destroy people’s lives,” she said.

Departing Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi beganthe push for jail expansion, continued byhis successor Vicki Hennessy. Mirkarimisaid the facility housing the two jails at 850Bryant Street was seismically unsafe.However, the jail population dwindled to itslowest point in over 30 years, because ofpretrial diversion and alternative sentencingprograms. As of December 5, SanFrancisco county jails housed 1,270inmates in a 2,432-bed system, according toSheriff’s Department estimates.

The No New SF Jails coalition pointedout iniquities inherent in the penal systemin San Francisco. While the African-American population shrunk to 6 percentcitywide over a 40-year span, AfricanAmericans make up almost half theinmates in county jails. Also, 75 percentof inmates have substance abuse issuesand 14 percent have severe mental illness,according to the city’s Department ofPublic Health.

But possibly the most telling signcomes from a Sheriff’s Department esti-mate of 85 percent of inmates held in pre-trial custody. It’s likely that these inmatesare unable to afford to post bail. A sub-committee of the city’s Re-entry Counciland the Coalition on Homelessness foundthat jails act as de facto homeless shelters:30 percent of the city’s homeless popula-tion have spent at least one night in jailduring the last year. In a report releasedlast year, the Coalition on Homelessnessdiscovered that most homeless people,and some poor, housed folk, were likelyto leave jail without stable housing.

Earlier in the year, Contra Costa CountySheriff David Livingston pushed his plan to

add 480 beds in the West County jail with-out fanfare, but he hit a couple of sore spotsin the community. For one, Livingstonwanted to use $1.43 million in leftover staterealignment funds meant for re-entry ser-vices toward the jail expansion.

PASSIONATE OUTCRY IN EAST BAY

Another critical point was the recentclosure of the Doctor’s Medical Center inSan Pablo due to lack of county funding.

Kristi Laughlin, director of FaithAlliance for a Moral Economy, said thatwas a reminder of what she saw as mis-placed priorities. “The contrast was dra-matic,” she said. “Funding could be foundfor a jail, but not for a hospital. I thinkthat aggravated and motivated a very pas-sionate outcry from people in ContraCosta County.”

Among the critics was TamishaWalker, an organizer with the ContraCosta Interfaith Supporting CommunityOrganization. Walker, who was incarcer-ated in her youth and early adulthood,said such money should be allocated forhealth care and personal counseling. Shenoted that if better services were availablewhen she was younger, she and her moth-er would have gotten addiction treatmentsooner, and she would have avoided beingcaught up in the criminal justice system.

Like the county jails in San Francisco,the West County jail in Richmond oper-ates at half-capacity: an average of 605beds are used in a building that houses1,096, raising the question, “why create abigger jail for fewer inmates?”

The U.S. Immigration and CustomsEnforcement agency rents 150 beds forundocumented people in custody, drawingcriticism from the immigrant community.

UNDER-THE-RADAR CAMPAIGN

Additionally, the county sheriff’sdepartment held just one public meetingwith city officials while conveningclosed-door conferences with other stake-holders. Laughlin said SheriffLivingston’s under-the-radar campaign toexpand the West County jail isn’t uniqueto Contra Costa County.

“It seemed like the common denomina-tor in these jail fights is that they seemedto move very quietly,” she said. “I think

they know there’s a discrepancy in howthe public feels about mass incarcerationand more money spent on jails and pris-ons, and how much we’re tolerating peo-ple being incarcerated and funding theapparatus of the status quo.”

Activists in Contra Costa had to movefast before the August 28 deadline for thecounty’s application. In response to thejail proposal, the Contra Costa InterfaithSupporting Community Organization sub-mitted a “community budget” to countyofficials. The interfaith group asked themto invest in re-entry services, health careand mental health facilities, job training,temporary housing services and mentor-ing and navigation services. It also movedpeople to contact county and state law-makers and write letters to the state cor-rections board.

Walker said the community mobiliza-tion was a key. “We had organized sowell and changed the narrative that wewere welcoming people who have beenincarcerated,” she said, adding that peoplebegan to recognize the relationshipsbetween mass incarceration and theincreases in crime among people withoutaccess to housing and services.

Though the Contra Costa Sheriff’sDepartment touted in-custody services asa boon for the county, Richmond MayorTom Butt and Supervisor John Gioia saidif money is available for such services,residents shouldn’t have to be arrested toaccess them.

The Richmond City Council voted tooppose the plan. Also, the Contra CostaBoard of Supervisors’ vote fell short ofapproval, thanks to Gioia’s opposition.The rejection on both municipal andcounty levels doomed SheriffLivingston’s proposal.

Walker said that unlike earlier effortsagainst jail expansion, the timing madewinning hearts and minds easier. “If thishad been five years ago, we wouldn’t havewon,” she said. “We hadn’t changedenough mindsets and changed the domi-nant narrative enough. Once we builtenough alliances and (could) bring systemrelationships to the table for a commongoal, that’s what set Richmond apart.”

Activists Halt Jails on Both Sides of Bay “I’d rather go down in history as someone opposingsomething that is wrong than accept money that is goingto continue to destroy people’s lives.”

— London Breed, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors

from page 1

by Jack Bragen

Disabled people are being sub-jected to baffling and unkindtreatment at the hands of thegovernment. New rules have

been written that have made it increasing-ly hard for disabled and poor people tosurvive and get our basic needs met.

This is a trend that has continued forthe last 30 years, but now it has reached apoint where it is difficult for a disabledperson to even hope to obtain adequatefood and housing and transportation.

At one time, disabled people could getinto good housing and could afford to goout to a restaurant a couple of times amonth, or maybe order a pizza. We mighthave been able to afford reliable trans-portation, and might have been able to gogrocery shopping without sticker shock.

Former California Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger slashed SSI andMedicaid when in office, and these bene-fits have not been restored. For most peo-ple living on SSDI/SSI, we can’t afford toget by unless our families help with someof our expenses.

If we seek part-time employment to tryto shore up the economic gap, we soonfind we are confronted with endlessamounts of red tape, as well as furtherreductions in SSI, healthcare and housingbenefits. And this is just one example ofthe many ways in which it is becomingharder for disabled people to survive.

The housing situation for disabled peo-ple has become increasingly difficult.Section 8 has adopted practices that makeit a lot easier to get bumped off their list.

To make matters worse, almost no land-lords accept Section 8, and most of thosewho do are renting out units in bad neigh-borhoods where it is hazardous to step

outside one’s front door (or stay home, forthat matter).

Thus, many people who are disabledand who can’t afford the skyrocketingrents are merely one pen stroke awayfrom homelessness.

Social Security has adopted new intim-idating methods for interviewing disabledpeople. These methodologies are quitebogus and are designed to induce fear. Inthe interview, you are told that you arespeaking “under penalty of perjury.” Thisstrategy is apparently intended to frightendisabled people into ‘fessing up.

In my last interview with SocialSecurity, I flipped out and said I was tak-ing “the Fifth Amendment.” There was noreal reason for me to do that. They hadsucceeded in scaring me to the pointwhere I had become irrational.

Food prices have risen. Some super-markets have become places that cater torich customers. Those with less money arerelegated to Wal-Mart, Dollar Tree, andthe food bank. If you do not have theappearance of someone who is affluent,and you go to a supermarket, people startmaking remarks to you. You are pre-sumed a criminal because you have goneto a supermarket in an older car, and inclothes that bespeak not being in the richpeople’s club.

Owning a car isn’t affordable for lowerincome people any more. The expenses of

Penciled Out of Existence by Some Grand Authority

It feels as if I have been penciled out of existence by some grandauthority, one which expects me to disappear into nothingness,or who believes I ought to be jailed, homeless or just dead.

Forgotten Man, ignored by an indifferent society. Painting by Maynard Dixon

See Penciled Out of Existence page 7

January 2016 ST R E E T SP I R I T 7

and infrastructure, such as social servicesand public transportation. Essentially,inequality is exacerbated. We refuse tostand by and let that happen. We alsowant to protect the cultural vitality,vibrancy, and diversity of the city — it’swhat makes Oakland special.”

Indeed, between 2000 and 2013,Oakland lost more than 24 percent of itsAfrican American population, while thewhite population increased by 25 percent;and the number of renters paying over 50percent of their income towards rentincreased by 39 percent. EUJ membersfelt this housing and displacement crisis atfirst hand and knew that it was critical touse public land to serve the needs of exist-ing Oakland residents.

Eastlake neighbors began by organiz-ing themselves and also marshaled a hostof resources behind their cause. They net-worked with other community groups,such as Black Seed, Asians for BlackLives and Causa Justa::Just Cause, tobuild people power. They tapped into theaffordable housing community to getexpert advice from housing finance econ-omists and architects about the nuts andbolts of development so that they couldengage on equal terms with city staff anddevelopers. They met with Oakland CityCouncil members and staff to tell theirstories and brought dozens of people tospeak at public hearings.

They held rallies and protests at CityHall and in City Council chambers. Theyengaged in compelling media advocacy tomake their case and build pressure. Andthey embraced legal enforcement as animportant tool to support organizing.

California law and local Oakland ordi-nances establish clear rules for the dispos-al of city-owned property. Oakland hadignored them all. Specifically, theCalifornia Surplus Land Act requirescities and other local agencies that areselling off land they don’t need to priori-tize the land for affordable housing,schools or parks.

This thoughtful statute recognizes thatfinding space for public-serving uses isdifficult, particularly in areas near transit.Therefore, public land, when available,must be prioritized for the public good.

As of 2015, the Surplus Lands Act alsorequires a minimum percentage of afford-able homes in all housing developmentson public land. In May 2015, PublicAdvocates, along with the Public InterestLaw Project and the law firm of Siegel

and Yee, explained these requirements ina letter to the City, noting that Oaklandhad failed to follow both the proceduraland substantive requirements of the law inthe case of the East 12th Street parcel.

As it turns out, the City Attorney hadtold the City Council the same thingmonths before. A final City Council votewas scheduled to take place on July 7,2015, but the day before, the East BayExpress published a leaked memo fromthe City Attorney’s office dated February17. The memo states clearly that the East12th Street property is subject to theSurplus Lands Act and notes that a non-profit developer had been “rebuffed” bycity officials. Consequently, the Councilquietly removed the item from the agendaand started the process over on July 14.

It wasn’t the only dramatic moment inthis fight.

In May, Black Seed and Asians forBlack Lives linked arms to shut down theCity Council meeting, preventing a voteon the project scheduled for that night.And at a City Council meeting in June,the very day that Public Advocates andour co-counsel sent a demand letter to theCity Attorney, more than 90 people spokeout in opposition to the project.

The City Council surprised everyoneby listening to the public’s demands andvoting against the 100 percent luxurydevelopment. Councilmembers evenexpressed concern over the lack of com-pliance with the Surplus Lands Act. Thetide was clearly turning.

In an effort to diffuse communityopposition to the luxury high-rise, thedeveloper offered $8 million to buildaffordable housing on another site. But inthe absence of a neighborhood site beingidentified for the promised affordablehousing, EUJ did not back down from itsopposition to the luxury tower that wouldgentrify the City-owned site.

Following its success in opening thedoor for development that serves Oaklandresidents, EUJ kept up the momentum toillustrate the community’s vision for theproject. “Our coalition immediately went towork developing a celebratory communityprocess and doing grassroots outreach forit,” said Dunya Alwan, an EUJ member.

“We created an event called E 12thWishlist, which was family-friendly, con-sisting of free food, performances, and a‘Design and Imagine’ tent where localarchitects and planners invited communitymembers to consider the best use of the

site.”According to Alwan, event participants

enjoyed vibrant discussions and recordedtheir hopes and ideas for the site on hun-dreds of feedback cards. They also tookpart in a design exercise, which resulted inover 30 participant-drawn plans and ele-vations with elements of housing, busi-ness and services, and community andopen/green spaces.

Thanks to EUJ’s persistent organizing,the use of legal and other advocacy tac-tics, and strong media attention — plus, abit of luck — the City has multiple pro-posals to consider and must negotiate “ingood faith” with developers proposing touse the site for affordable housing. It mustprioritize proposals that include the high-est number of affordable homes for peopleof the lowest incomes. And perhaps mostimportantly, the City knows that commu-nity members and advocates will bewatching how it disposes of public land inthe future. The message is still loud andclear: public land for the public good.

Sam Tepperman-Gelfant and DavidZisser are attorneys with Public Advocates,a public interest law firm in San Francisco.This story first appeared in Race, Poverty &the Environment, Volume 20-2.

Public Land forthe Public Goodfrom page 1

Community activists held an event called E 12th Wishlist, a family-friendly event with a “Design and Imagine”tent where local architects and planners invited community members to consider the best use of the site.

Photo: BASAT

Thanks to the persistent organizing of Oakland activists, the City must prioritize propos-als that include the highest number of affordable homes for people of the lowest incomes.Most importantly, city officials know the community will be watching how it disposes ofpublic land in the future. The message is loud and clear: public land for the public good.

owning a vehicle are far beyond what isaffordable on public benefits or low-pay-ing jobs.

Then, there are the buses. If you livein Contra Costa County, you could bewaiting for a bus for up to an hour in thehot sun or in the pouring rain. Then,when you get to the transfer point, youmay have to wait just as long for the con-necting bus. Thus, getting from Concordto Martinez could take as long as threehours, could involve a fair amount ofwalking, and could require not having amedical condition that precludes being inthe outdoors for an extended time.

And frequently, the buses aren’t therewhen the schedule says. The bus couldhave been a few minutes early, in whichcase you must wait an extra hour, or itcould just not show up.

Government-sponsored dental benefitsprovide another example of how the safe-ty net is unraveling. It is a good thing thatdental benefits have been restored underMedi-Cal. However, this was executedbadly. The Medi-Cal rules are written insuch a way that it isn’t reasonably possi-ble for a conscientious dentist to do anadequate job and get compensated for it.

I went on the website for 1-800 Dentistand put in my information. I needed X-raysand cleaning. The website found no match-es. Presumably, they do not make referralsto horrible dentists. (FYI, any dentist whooperates under a fictitious business name— for example, Western Dental — is like-ly to be horrible.)

Hate towards those who are economi-cally less fortunate has risen. Classismand also hatred toward persons with psy-chiatric disabilities have become the newracism, even though racism hasn’t gone

away. When people want to sling theirbest insult at someone, “bipolar” is agood derogatory.

The prevalent belief is that if you aredisabled, you should just pick yourself upand get a full-time job — you ought to beable to shrug off your disability. If youcannot earn a good living or if you arenot independently wealthy, this is equat-ed with turpitude, and the existence of agenuine impairment is not believed.

The “I did it, why can’t you?” attitude,or perhaps the “I’ve got mine and I’m notsharing any” attitude, are hostile ways forthe affluent to evade any innate responsi-bility for their fellow beings. Large num-bers of people in our society don’t wantto be inconvenienced by someone who issuffering or is impoverished.

As a disabled person living on publicbenefits, it feels as if I have been pen-ciled out of existence by some grandauthority, one which expects me to disap-pear into nothingness, or who believes Iought to be jailed, homeless or just dead.

Penciled Out of Existence in Americafrom page 6

Tangled Up inWounds(Poem found under leaves inGolden Gate Park)

by George Wynn

“Oh God give me a warmhome far away from thekick-ass cowards whobeat me up and setfire to my tent

“I got a right to be aliveDo I deserve this: No, No, No!Yes, I do like to begI'm good at panhandlingI have to be to survive

“Right now I'm tangledup in blue like the song saysand tangled up in my woundsand my nerves are burningwith the more ready to gothen ever before blues.”

January 2016ST R E E T SP I R I T8

by Peter Marin

Another Christmas, anotherNew Year... How quickly theysucceed one another now, withthe spaces between, though

deepening, somehow always shorter! I am reluctant to write another mes-

sage, want to cling, somehow, to silence,and yet there are frayed connections outthere to friends I want to keep alive andintact, if only though these brief, sporadic,annual messages.

At my age, each year diminishes thenumbers of surviving friends, and othersseem further away, confronting their ownproblems and issues, and time and ageand death become powers to be factoredinto the living equation of each life, andso connections — these hand-holds, life-lines, skeins and tangles of light — seemmore important than ever.

And I think, too, that age, or let us callit “late-stage life,” despite all of the inter-est in it and books about it, has yet to befully understood or successfully describedfrom inside. In terms of its odd and unex-pected gifts (beside the losses), its pro-gressions of experience, the origamichanges and folds in time itself, its expan-siveness and openings and the strangespaciousness in which interior immediacybecomes something other than it wasbefore — ah, if only more men andwomen spoke from within it, describing itas experience!

Astonishing, the morphing of memoriesand waves of sensitivities that occur aschanges and crises appear and pass, deathcomes close and draws away, the past, re-inspected, offers new revelations, thefuture, fore-shortened, changes the shape ofeach moment, and each moment, as it deep-ens and opens, becomes, or can become,the occasion for gratitude and praise...

Beyond that? For some reason, these past few weeks

I have been thinking again about theFrench notion of liberty, fraternity(though now, of course, we’d say solidari-ty) and equality, and I think I understandin a new way (a reflection of my age?)that these can be taken not just as politicalvalues, but also as a partial guide to howto conduct our lives.

I remain continually moved, still, whenI see these elements in action, when I seepeople reaching across the imposed limitsof class and gender and color to actuallybe with others, to stand with them againstpower and authority, or simply meet themface to face as comrades and equals.

Too many of us, I fear, have beenschooled in a kind of noblesse oblige that

becomes, in practice, noblesse oblitera-tion: a way of even doing good that at thesame time humiliates, subjugates, objecti-fies and insults those whose destinies weclaim to want to improve.

This is, in part, what the phrase “classconsciousness” means: the abyss betweenus and others, the limits to our empathy andcare and the moral forgetfulness engen-dered by how, without thinking, we think.

Of course, I must quickly add that Iknow most of us, most of the time, proba-bly do the best we can as time and cir-cumstance and our own energies andlights and obligations (oh, so many!) per-mit. And yet, always, thank heavens, thereare those who, as can we, do even betterthan most of us (and I include myselfhere) presently do.

So once again, as always, I want tothank those of you who struggle againstthe grain to bring value into the world as aliving thing. That is, for me, along withthe generosity of spirit and care we owe tothose we love, and the stubborn and diffi-cult telling of truth and, yes, the makingof art, at least some of the time, foremostamong the several ways we can, individu-ally and together, keep alive the possibili-ty of a just and decent future.

May the new year bring to us all whatwe truly need!

Also, for those who want to bother,please find a few imperfect gifts, below:elegies, praise, poems.

Reflections on the New Year—Elegies, Praise, Poems

AGAINby Peter Marin

Beckoningin the last silenceLear is dancing on the heathwith Cordelia, Gloucester and the Foolas if death did not exist.Nothing has changedinto the plenitude of Becomingwithout end. Waves of lightpass through the fleshfrom suns too distant to be named.We are energies enclosed by a skinthickened inside into the mysteryof awareness, barely awareof what we might be. Onthe porch, sipping stalecoffee, I see the deadcome alive in the wood, fadeinto the brightness between trees,then emerge in silence and thought.Invisible membranes tremble.The air vibrates with aliveness.Borne on wild currents of airangels like surfers balance or fallinto teeming Leviathan seas.All is a singing of praise,a gift on this Christmas morning.

BALANCEDby Peter Marin

Balancedon currents of lightlike surfers on their waves —here we are. The momentsunfold going backto beginnings, forwardto the brightening end. Astonishing,is it not: the complexitiesbecoming simple inthe immensities of thought?Antinomies, said Kant, as the minddrifts off the charts, intothe distances beyond. Platowas right, something appears:unexpected, unnamed, the visiblelight of the Forms, thoughstill hidden. How closethe world is, fading away!The dead gather, speakin soft voices, affirmingwho we are. In streets, on freights,with comrades, there I wasat home, always in exile, oneplace to another, seeking. Nowit is thought, the river of life,carries me onward. The heart,like an ark on a flood, comesto shore, releasing its cargo —whatever, whoever, I loved.Birds fill the sky, beasts the forest —a peaceable kingdom, found in the mind, vivid, alive. Eden, again! Iride the slow flow of the blood home to where it began.

CHRISTMAS DAYby Peter Marin

In their long coats, laceless boots. smelling of whiskey, of death, theystand on corners or sit curbsideor lie on the grass of the park —these angels, winged minions, sentto remind us of conscience.Ask them their names, they saySorrow, Pestilence, Hunger.War and Regret, handsdirty and worn in ragged glovestesting our patience, our love.Who can see them, these truths,staring us in the face, demandingwe become better than we are?Who turns away? Who will bring Godback into the world, born again,this day, Christmas day?

SPACESby Peter Marin

Older,in the spacesbetween leaves, cells, notes and wordsI can find a home wherenothing is. Or wasin forward spiraling timeat the edges of meanings, membranes, too many dimensions to be named.Everything slides into place,out of sight. Waves. Particles. Stringsnot angels on the headof a dropped pin makingthe sound of one clapping hand.What a ride! Lost in the mysteriesbeyond knowing, the antinomiesdrifting by, the Forms not yetin view. The singing ofangels/ to thy/ restis silence, wouldn't youknow it, on the old cornerin Brooklyn, before, then after,where, even now, I am and am notas death, as it will, comes to meet me.

FOR FRED AGAINby Peter Marin

This rising of brightnesscoming to meet us, this proximity,this approach, this strangenearness in withdrawalas, passing over, the arcof becoming becomes a crown:the blue sky, the green and gold of the trees,the flames of existenceburning themselves intothe sweetness, the finality, of age...Gratitude overflows the heartto become the River of Lifeon whose banks we celebrate.Our glasses are raised inthe fabled Garden of the Godswhere death vanishes forever.L'chaim, we say. To life. To life!How lucky we are to be here, together.

TIPSby Peter Marin

The tipsof my fingersglow in the dark with the lightof the moon. Watch: myspread arms become wingsin the waves of becomingcrossing what remainsof the night. Am Iready? O yes: for the longjourney, the bridge of sighsbetween life and death.The last breath is the firsthint of the stillnessto come. Is it rest? Or forever?We will die before knowingor know after death — nomore can be said before going.

“SERENITY BASE.” A homeless person camps under a tree, seemingly exiled a long way from his native San Francisco. Painting by Christine Hanlon, oil on canvas, 50” by 150”

I have been thinking again about the French notion of liberty, frater-nity (though now we’d say solidarity) and equality. I think I under-stand in a new way that these can be taken not just as political val-ues, but also as a partial guide to how to conduct our lives.